The Doll 31（文稿）

Chapter 31 Munroe hunted for transportation along the side streets of Nice. Here the pedestrian traffic was lighter and those who took note of their passing fewer, but even off the main streets and busy walkways, the occasional passerby turned to stare at Neeva and her odd getup, which worked as much as a distraction from her face, and as such a disguise, as it did a beacon. Neeva, seemingly oblivious as to the liability she was to Munroe, continued on, head up and shoulders back. Irritated by the girl’s ignorance, Munroe nudged her. “Keep your chin down, eyes to the sidewalk,” she said, “Unless you’re trying to be recognized and stopped.” Neeva dropped her head, and Munroe skirted her around yet another corner to another street, keeping the trail as random and unpredictable as possible so that Lumani would be forced to follow and couldn’t, even with reinforcements, set an ambush. Down one more block, around a corner, and finally, on a narrow street with cars parked only on one side, their tires up against the curb to leave a single lane for two-way traffic, Munroe found what she wanted: a vehicle plain enough to garner little attention, new enough to be considered reliable, old enough to still be hotwired. And it was unlocked. Through the window, Munroe checked the fuel gauge. Three-quarters of a tank. She pulled the roll of tape from the backpack, ripped off a strip with her teeth, and tossed the tape and the pack at Neeva. “Get in the back,” Munroe said. “Keep an eye out— let me know if anyone curious or angry heads this way.” “We’re going to steal a car out in the open?” Munroe opened the front passenger door and pointed with a head motion. “Consulate’s about a kilometer that way. Just start walking. Pretty Boy will be by shortly to give you a lift.” Neeva climbed into the back. Munroe checked the emergency brake and set the car in neutral. Lay across the floorboards and, head beneath the steering wheel, removed the plastic cover beneath the mechanism, searched for the wires that would take her home, and said, “This makes you an accomplice— no longer an innocent victim. The people in the consulate saw you walk out and follow me on your own, without coercion.” “Why do you keep trying to scare me off?” Neeva said. “I understand the consequences.” Munroe pulled at the wires. “Just checking,” she said, “making sure you know there’s a path between death and freedom, and it might not be a happy place, either.” Neeva huffed in reply, and with the piece of tape stuck to her forehead, Munroe used her nails and teeth to pinch and strip. She’d have been faster with more experience, but it’d been a while since she and Logan, still young and stupid, had played anarchists with other people’s cars. The ignition caught. Munroe taped the exposed wires and scooted out from beneath the seat and got behind the wheel. Leaned over to shut the passenger door, then put the car in gear. If they were lucky, they wouldn’t need to stop between here and Milan, might not have to go through this process again, and with the border only forty minutes away along the highway— a route they could take now that Munroe was certain Neeva wouldn’t be banging on windows and screaming for help from passing cars and tollbooth operators— odds were good that they’d be in Italy before the car was reported stolen. Munroe checked for traffic and pulled onto the road. To Neeva she said, “If you throw that bag all the way to the back, you can come up front.” Neeva tossed the backpack behind the rear bench and squeezed between the two front seats, jacket and doll dress tangling as she dragged herself forward. “I really think new clothes would be a good idea,” she said, then settled and buckled in. “Why do you keep avoiding the backpack?” Munroe checked the rearview. Lumani was out there, she knew it, knew he knew she knew, and his continued invisibility added to the pressure inside her head. She turned onto a main street and followed instinct toward signage, and the signage toward the highway. Glanced at Neeva and found the girl staring, waiting for something. “What?” “The backpack— why do you avoid it?” “The phone has a tracker and a bug in it. I pulled the battery, but just in case.” Neeva’s forehead creased, and the same girl, who while dodging killers and kidnappers would, if given half a chance, have pranced down the streets of Nice with her head held high, glared at Munroe accusingly, as if she’d been betrayed. “Why do you still have it?” she said. “Now you’re an expert, too?” Neeva crossed her arms and stared at her lap. Munroe said, “It’s the only way I have to communicate with them— I have a few things to sort out before I can get rid of it. “Listen, you chose to come along, uninvited, so if you’re going to stick around, you need to zip it and let me lead. “If you question me every step of the way, I’ll give you back just to get rid of you. I need quiet right now.” “I was just asking,” Neeva said. “And you’re still annoying me,” Munroe said. “I’m not your friend. Just because I saved your life doesn’t make me a nice person. “I didn’t do it for you, I did it for my own reasons— just like what you’re doing here isn’t for me but for yours. “So since we’re stuck with the phone for now, the plan is to move fast, stay a step ahead, and avoid saying anything that allows them an advantage. Get it?” Neeva nodded. “Not stupid,” she said, and despite herself, Munroe smiled. “Good,” she said. “And when we do get a real phone, you need to call your parents.” “And tell them what?” “For starters, that you weren’t re-kidnapped, because it’d certainly make my life a hell of a lot easier if my face isn’t on every other television, right next to yours. “And since you won’t be on the flight they booked, they probably deserve to know the reasons why.” Neeva sighed. “It’s not going to be a pleasant conversation.” “Welcome to the world of difficult choices. You’re doing a brave thing, Neeva, but it only counts if the ones you love know you’re doing it of your own free will.” THE HIGHWAY OUT of Nice took them along the coast farther inland than the regional roads, a scenic straight shot into Italy that bypassed border control, cut through tunnels, skipped towns, and made a mockery of the wasted time it had taken to drive the opposite direction. Munroe stuck to the highway only until they diverted past Genoa, and the beauty and grandeur of the coast and the mountains and the tunnels phased into a bland industrial flatness. She used Arben’s money to pay the toll and exit the highway. Smaller roads meant slower going, but they also meant that Lumani, in whatever powerful vehicle he drove, wouldn’t be able to overtake them on speed alone. Neeva broke the silence. “What happened to the scarface guy?” she said. Munroe glanced sideways but didn’t answer. “At the consulate you said the pretty boy was still out here,” Neeva said. “And you said he and him as if there was only ever one. So what happened to the other? Did he

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The Doll 31（文稿） is an episode from 英文有声《第43条疤痕》三部曲 by 有声师姐Memory.

This episode is 20:56 long.

This episode was published on Jun 1, 2021.

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